Venezuela’s opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia holds an Uruguayan and a Venezuelan flag outside the government residence in Montevideo, Uruguay, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Gonzalez, who claims he won the 2024 presidential election and is recognized by some countries as the legitimate president-elect, traveled from exile in Madrid to Argentina and Uruguay. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The Venezuelan opposition leader who claims to have defeated President Nicolás Maduro in last year’s presidential election will meet with US President Joe Biden on Monday at the White House, a senior administration official confirmed to The Associated Press.
The meeting comes as Edmundo González, a retired diplomat who represented Venezuela’s main opposition coalition in the July presidential election, tries to rally support for his effort to get Maduro out of office. The official was not authorized to discussed details of the visit publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
González began a tour of the Americas with stops in Argentina and Uruguay on Saturday. He called on Venezuelans living in the Washington area to gather Monday outside the offices of the Organization of American States.
Meanwhile, Maduro already received an invitation from the National Assembly to be sworn in for a third term Friday, more than five months after the National Electoral Council, stacked with ruling-party loyalists, declared him winner of the July 28 election.
Unlike previous presidential elections, electoral authorities did not provide detailed vote counts. However, the opposition collected tally sheets from more than 80 per cent of the nation’s electronic voting machines, posted them online and said they showed González had won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.
The US and most European governments have rejected the election’s official results and consider González the legitimate winner.
By ZEKE MILLER and REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press
Miller reported from Washington, DC
Be the first to comment on "Venezuelan opposition leader to meet Biden at White House"